Christians have most always been exceptionally gleeful when a non-Christian superstar decides to try Christianity. Before Kanye, Justin Bieber filled the slot.
One such “convert” is equal to thousands of normal people if this logic is followed and it usually is. Americans by and large are doped about their celebrities. We love to live our lives (they are so boring and meaningless) through a superstar, superhero, athlete or performer. This vicarious trophy-life is once again front and center with Kanye West’s profession of becoming a Christian. On the surface, seeing such an immensely wealthy and popular person “join the ranks” is a great thing—Great, especially when Christianity is on the downward slope of popularity in the United States. Perhaps Kanye will save Christianity from further decline in America? He is already colluding with our Secular Humanist president who sees Christianity as one more cog in the wheel of the deal he makes with Americans who vote Republican and Conservative.
Here are 3 reasons why Celebrity Status and Christianity don’t mix well, and Kanye won’t save Christianity from its retrograde status.
1- MUTUAL OPPOSITION Celebrity and Christian contradict one another and do battle
Jesus began His ministry by choosing 12 ordinary men, not millionaire popstars, for very good reasons.
Money and fame corrupt the human spirit. Jesus knew that as He rose in popularity two of these men would clamor over who would be greater in the coming kingdom. These men, James and John, collaborated with mom and dickered over who would have the prominent seat on the right and left seat of their leader Jesus. Just weeks later, these glory hogs would deny the same Savior and publicly abandon Him.
Jesus put everything into perspective with his reply:
“IF YOU WANT TO BE GREAT: you must be the servant of all the others.
IF YOU WANT TO BE FIRST: you must be the slave of the rest.
The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his live to rescue many people.” Matthew 20:26-28
Kanye faces many hurdles:
–He brings an entourage of people who will tag along for the fringe benefits and pretend to follow the same Christ for fear of being left off the gravy train.
–He brings uber wealth and wealth brings corruption.
“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” I Timothy 6:9
–He becomes as the Rich Young Ruler
A Rich Man
17 As Jesus was walking down a road, a man ran up to him. He knelt down, and asked, “Good teacher, what can I do to have eternal life?”
18 Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. 19 You know the commandments. ‘Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. Do not cheat. Respect your father and mother.’”
20 The man answered, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these commandments since I was a young man.”
21 Jesus looked closely at the man. He liked him and said, “There’s one thing you still need to do. Go sell everything you own. Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come with me.”
22 When the man heard Jesus say this, he went away gloomy and sad because he was very rich.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “It’s hard for rich people to get into God’s kingdom!” 24 The disciples were shocked to hear this. So Jesus told them again, “It’s terribly hard to get into God’s kingdom! 25 In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God’s kingdom.”
26 Jesus’ disciples were even more amazed. They asked each other, “How can anyone ever be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything.” Mark 10:17-27
–He will wrestle with this Jesus:
Warning all Christian followers of the Jesus who had no place to lay his head or to call home:
Along the way someone said to Jesus, “I’ll follow you anywhere!”
Jesus said, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man doesn’t have a place to call his own.”
Jesus told someone else to come with him. But the man said, “Lord, let me wait until I bury my father.”
Jesus answered, “Let the dead take care of the dead, while you go and tell about God’s kingdom.”
Then someone said to Jesus, “I want to follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and take care of things at home.”
Jesus answered, “Anyone who starts plowing and keeps looking back isn’t worth a thing to God’s kingdom!” Luke 9:57-62
2- IMMATURITY Celebrity and Christian deny each other
Celebrityism wants to promote this student as Doctorate while this student is still a Freshman.
Celebrytism hopes to detour and escape the long and arduous path of DISCIPLESHIP and arrive at Camp Luxury for room service and a peaceful view of the ocean.
Celebrityism must self-promote self for its very survival.
Celebrytism is CEO position with junior business experience
Celebrytism is the flight maintenance crew quickly promoted to pilot and navigate the Air Force One Jet for the President.
Celebrytism is being Paul without first being Timothy.
Becoming a Christian is an intensely private occurrence that also becomes public knowledge.
How and when the public awareness happens is significant.
There must be a foundation, establishment and a school for growth before public leadership begins.
This is what took 3 years for Jesus do in the lives of His disciples. Even then these students were unlearned and prone to missing Christ altogether.
Warning young Timothy about False Teachers and money, he said,
“These people think religion is supposed to make you rich. And religion does make your life rich, by making you content with what you have. We didn’t bring anything into this world, and we won’t take anything with us when we leave. So, we should be satisfied just to have food and clothes. People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.” I Timothy 6:6-10
Warning young Timothy about leading others, he said,
“Don’t be too quick to accept people in the service of the Lord by placing your hands on them. Don’t sin because others do but stay close to God.” I Timothy 5:22
Warning young Timothy about rich people, he said,
“Warn the rich people of this world not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost. Tell them to have faith in God, who is rich and blesses us with everything we need to enjoy life.” I Timothy 6:17
Warning from James to us all
“You rich people should cry and weep! Terrible things are going to happen to you. 2 Your treasures have already rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your money has rusted, and the rust will be evidence against you, as it burns your body like fire. Yet you keep on storing up wealth in these last days. 4 You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops.
5 While here on earth, you have thought only of filling your own stomachs and having a good time. But now you are like fat cattle on their way to be butchered. 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent people, who couldn’t even fight back.” James 5:1-6
3- BELIEFISM Celebrity and Christian ultimately destroy one another
Beliefism is when someone believes in a god but toward no end or conviction that serves the words and the character of that particular god.
Beliefism is essentially agnosticism—Commitment to the idea of a supreme commander without all the fuss and devotion to him. I can live the lifestyle I chose and give a head nod to the supposed deity while keeping safe distance. This describes all Christians at some point in their discipleship and it shows them what Christ is redeeming them from.
Beliefism is Secular Humanism—In the American culture of excess and materialism, beliefism is melded with secular humanism. Material goods and self-sufficiency is god. This collaborative force explains the decline of Christianity as much as anything else. Very few people survive wealth and prosperity, much less at the level of Kanye and the like.
Jesus informs:
“If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it. What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul?” Matthew 16:25-26
In the American culture of excess and materialism, beliefism is melded with social justice and “do-gooders”. When Christianity is prostituted from its roots buried deep in the scriptures held to be God’s word to His people, then social “ministries”—love, peace and harmony step in as platforms for human elevation and a Christ-less gospel. Christianity becomes about how good or bad a person is compared to another, not the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
If mankind can be saved apart from Christs’ substitutionary death, there is no Christianity, only proud sinful mankind pretending to save himself through good deeds.
“I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. I don’t turn my back on God’s gift of undeserved grace. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die.” Galatians 2:20-21
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In 1859 a Frenchman named Charles Blondin (Jean Francois Gravelet) made history by stretching a 2” cable over 1,000 feet across the river just below Niagara Falls at 160’ high. Colorfully dressed for maximum attention and visibility, he not only walked back and forth across the river, but he also did it blindfolded and often with his manager on his back. He even stopped midway to set up kitchen and cook an omelette. While dressed as an ape, he pushed a wheelbarrow across.
Needless to say, he had many believers. He asked the exuberant crowd if they believed he could push a human being across in the wheelbarrow. If the applause meant anything, there was not an unbeliever in the crowd. But when he asked for a volunteer, the crowd drew silent.
So it is with Christianity that says no to easy-beliefism and yes to a wholesale devotion to Jesus Christ.
The bible is clear—believing is easy:
“You surely believe there is only one God. That’s fine. Even demons believe this, and it makes them shake with fear”. James 2:19
Jesus is clear—being a disciple begins with belief and ends bearing a personal cross.
“If you love your father or mother or even your sons and daughters more than me, you are not fit to be my disciples. And unless you are willing to take up your cross and follow me, you are not fit to be my disciples. If you try to save your life, you will lose it. But if you give it up for me, you will surely find it.” Matthew 10:-37-39
RETAIL JESUS IS WAITING TO ABSORB KANYE WEST.
Entire industries and profiteers have amassed wealth using Christianity’s appeal to right and good combined with the gullibility of people wanting to believe lies for personal profit.
DAYSTAR Television is the most recent, now sustaining the wicked seed-faith, health and prosperity movements perfected in the mid seventies with Jim and Tammy Faye Baker.
Kanye now has Jesus garments including $50.00 socks and shirts costing hundreds of dollars.
WHAT IS KANYE TO DO? (better than Justin Bieber who is lost in Hill Songs playground at present)
Kanye will have to do what Christ in his heart tells him to do, and what Christ in the Word of God taught and teaches us to do, if he is to survive the onslaught of groupies found even in Christianity’s ranks.
His pastor recently told him to keep rapping and Hip-Hopping for Jesus, even when Kanye said he felt it was not good at the time.
It appears that this pastor may well be more connected with Kanye’s wealth than his new Savior.
KEEP YOUR FAMILY CLOSE AND PRIVATE.
Already, he has made public the conflict he is having with his wife over modesty. His inner convictions are not aligning with hers. If she is not a Christian, then many conflicts are yet to arise and he has much to do in keeping his family leadership private. His wife is confessing that this new relationship with Jesus is not one that she shares at his intensity just yet. And she may never. It’s a lot to give up.
Follow Christ Kanye. Simplify your life. Memorize the following passages:
1 Finally, my dear friends, since you belong to the Lord Jesus, we beg and urge you to live as we taught you. Then you will please God. You are already living that way but try even harder. 2 Remember the instructions we gave you as followers of the Lord Jesus. 3 God wants you to be holy, so don’t be immoral in matters of sex. 4 Respect and honor your wife. 5 Don’t be a slave of your desires or live like people who don’t know God. 6 You must not cheat any of the Lord’s followers in matters of sex. Remember, we warned you that he punishes everyone who does such things. 7 God didn’t choose you to be filthy, but to be pure. 8 So if you don’t obey these rules, you are not really disobeying us. Instead, you are disobeying God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9 We don’t have to write you about the need to love each other. God has taught you to do this, 10 and you already have shown your love for all his people in Macedonia. But, my dear friends, we ask you to do even more. 11 Try your best to live quietly, to mind your own business, and to work hard, just as we taught you to do. 12 Then you will be respected by people who are not followers of the Lord, and you won’t have to depend on anyone. “I Thessalonians 4:1-12
LEARN WHAT THIS FOLLOWING VERSE MEANS FOR YOU PERSONALLY
“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4
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